A variation of the 242 went Lanark/Carluke to Motherwell/Hamilton via Wishaw & Motherwell they also ran a 231 after McKindless hit the wall from Lanark to Hamilton via the Clyde Valley. X10 and 240 as mentioned, although I don't think the 243 ever went further than Carluke. 317 I don't think first ran that sure it was Irvine's then Stuart's. First West Lothian ran the 77 from Lanark to Livingston for a brief period with Merc minibuses mainly.
Thank you all
.It's similar to Shotts. Unlike the JMB 56 v First 266, First have realised running against the JMB on the Lanark route won't make money because there the train into Carluke, Wishaw, Motherwell and onwards to Glasgow and Stuart's 240x/241x express into Glasgow aswell. If you ever get a chance to see the loading on the 266 beyond Newmains to Shotts you'd be lucky to see more than 5 the majority of the day. The bus from Shotts are the only links from there to the likes of Wishaw and Motherwell as the train goes via Bellshill to Glasgow. First Lothian have the X22 Shotts to Edinburgh but that take a good 2 hour, probably only get punters from there to Livingston shopping centre and Whitburn. Trains way faster to Edinburgh so I doubt there's much trade in the whole route.Thank you all
I believe now the 77 was transferred to BlueBus which has now been replaced with service 34A by Stuarts of Carluke after the demise of BlueBus of Shotts.
What was the reason that First Bus pulled out of Lanark?
Yeah, I went to Shotts in April 2019 to see what the place was and...well...I wouldn't repeat the experience, anyway, any 266 i seen go by there was hardly anyone on the bus the 56 was quite often heaving both ways but the 266 had no-one, for the hour I waited for the 701 I could count on one hand how may people I seen on the 266 in Shotts both ways.
There was a bus the Livingston from Wishaw by Blue Bus back maybe 10/15 years ago don't think it was ever busy. If the X22 did expand then a ticket acceptance would be needed between First Glasgow and West Lothian to have a chance of getting business in my opinion. I'm surprised the X22 has lasted as long, if it's making money now, then once covids settled I could see Lothian Country giving Shotts a go
I don't think Lothian Country would expand to Shotts because its in North Lanarkshire, I think thats why Lothian Country services only go as far as Whitburn to keep within the Lothian's and Edinburgh, this also results in Greenrigg missing out on a Lothian Country bus service.
If by way of current ticketing, yes. You can buy a network day ticket that could take you from Shotts out to Balloch with a few changes. Also have a cut price day ticket for Lanarkshire only services. It was possible to get a First bus from Shotts to Glasgow without changing the 267 was extended there at one point then there was a variation of the 266 that ran to Glasgow aswell. If I remember correctly First created routes 266/267/268 all to run high freq along the majority of the same route from Lanarkshire to Glasgow. If memory serves me correctly it was 267 from Shotts to Glasgow where at Newmains cross it would run beside the 266 that came from West Crindledyke. These two routes would go Wishaw town centre then split, 266 via the hospital and 267 past the Tesco's and the bottom end of the Pather housing estate running down Caledonia Road. The 266 and 267 again joined up together at Netherton and both continued on the same route through Motherwell to Hamilton, where the 266 would terminate at Hamilton bus station. The 267 would continue from there onto Cambuslang and into Glasgow. Just before Newton station on the outskirts of Glasgow the 268 service would come from an estate called Newton Farm and join the same route as the 267 into Buchanan. At night and on Sundays the 267 ran to West Crindledyke instead of Shotts. No service ran to Shotts on Sunday on that route and I think the same on the 268 part.
BlueBus ran service 701 up untill mid December 2019 (I think) between Livingston the Centre and Shotts via Kirkton Campus, Seafeild, Blackburn, Whitburn and Harthill.
First had the 262 from Glasgow to Caldercruix then it was curtailed to Airdrie. It then became the 62 run Faifley - Airdrie, then it was the 2 with a Ballieston variation. Airdrie section was cut recently so now Airdrie doesnt have a direct bus link into Glasgow
The 201s I’ve ever seen seem to be fairly busy. It works well with the E300s. It sees E400MMCs on Sundays now due to social distancing which I don’t recall ever seeing any deckers on this route.
Yeah that 260/262 highlights how much the train has decimated bus passenger numbers IMO. Pretty sure it was every 10/12 mins at one point too. The fact that there's trains into Motherwell now from Whifflet probably caused a lot of numbers falling too. It's 1 stop so nothing compared to the bus
213 still runs now but only goes from Bailliston - Airdrie at night and on sundays along with the 213A been run by McNairs(?)
The First 213 was replaced by the 38E but only as far as Baillieston lights it no longer served Bargeddie as of 2013.
Currently on loan at Livingston.
Same with Enviro400MMC SK19 EEN (34396) and Wright Streetlite SK63 KLA (47463).
McGill ran the 213 a while back from Airdrie to Bargeddie with a couple going into Glasgow late on
It’s a good link into town and especially for the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. It’s quicker and drops you off right outside. It’s also much quicker to the City Centre than the 2.
They would never cut the 2 - it makes far to much money from Faifley to the town.
This service did run, it was numbered the 260. https://www.flickr.com/photos/77000628@N02/11386048834/in/album-72157634813626172/
Perhaps the solution is to create an X2 from Faufley to the city centre using the expressway and reduce the number going via Partick. A similar thing could operate from Baillieston to the city centre using the M8. Although at peak times it can be congested from the East all the way from Shettleston. So perhaps use the M74 to the city instead.